4. Defense Was a Struggle for Both Teams

Quite frankly, it’s inexcusable for a team to put up 39 points as the Falcons did and not come away with a win. Additionally, it’s difficult to justify needing to score 40 points to come away with just a one-point victory as in the case of the Cowboys.

It was especially troubling for the Falcons’ defense because they got off to a great start holding the Cowboys to no points in the opening quarter. Atlanta simply unravelled and allowed double-figure scoring totals in each period for the remainder of the game.

The Falcons’ defense gave up 560 total yards of offense along with five touchdowns. Of course, Atlanta made some big plays by forcing plenty of turnovers, but they squandered those opportunities.

For the Cowboys, their defense failed to come up successfully when faced with disadvantaged starting field positioning. For reference, the Falcons scored after all five of Dallas’ turnovers.

Both teams have a lot they need to improve defensively entering Week 3. The matchups each side faced were far from easy considering the level of talent in each respective offense, but regardless, there needs to be more resistance to have a better chance of victory.